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Scene of Tuesday night’s fire.
When a two-alarm fire erupted on Orchard Street, three patrol cops helped six people safely escape the flames.
The fire broke out at the 435 Orchard apartment building, between Edgewood Avenue and Elm Street, Tuesday at 9:20 p.m.
Officers Eric Eisenhard, Endri Dragoi, and Paul Vakos were in the area at the time. They got there even before the firefighters did.
They saw flames, and began “banging loudly on each apartment door,” police spokesperson Capt. Anthony Duff wrote in a release. A “Good Samartian” joined them in the effort.
Bass Photo
Officer Eisenhard.
“At the apartment at the center of the fire, Officer Eisenhard assisted a mother and three small children. As this was happening, the Good Samaritan kicked open a front door as he and Officer Vakos forced entry into an adjacent apartment where they helped two adult residents escape the fire,” Duff wrote.
Firefighters evacuated a next-door apartment building and extinguished the flames.
City emergency management chief Rick Fontana credited the cops and the Samaritan with saving lives: “Three adults and three children were quickly guided to safety by NHPD as first arriving firefighters quickly moved hose lines into place to stop the spread of fire in a three-story row house complex.”
One 14-year-old suffered a minor injury in the fire; no firefighters were hurt. The Red Cross is helping two displaced families find shelter.